The new cultivar was found as a branch mutation of Ilex ‘Centennial Girl’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,750, at a nursery in Boring, Oreg. Ilex ‘Centennial Dragon’ is unique for:                1) its shiny plum brown new growth that holds the dark coloration through the season in two or three flushes of new growth,        2) its naturally pyramidal habit that doesn't need pruning to hold its density,        3) deep green, satiny, mature foliage with soft spines that don't catch your clothing.        
In addition Ilex ‘Centennial Dragon’ has profuse and long lasting bright red berries and good cold tolerance.
Compared to the parent plant, Ilex ‘Centennial Girl’, an unpatented plant, Ilex ‘Centennial Dragon’ has rich shiny plum brown new growth rather than always green new growth. Ilex ‘Centennial Dragon’ is slightly more upright and faster growing than Ilex ‘Centennial Girl’.
Compared to Ilex ‘Dragon Lady’, an unpatented plant, Ilex ‘Centennial Dragon’ has leaves that have more but much softer spines. Softer spines mean that the leaves do not catch your clothing or cut your hands. Ilex ‘Centennial Dragon’ has denser branching that does not require pruning to grow into a good form in a container like ‘Dragon Lady’ requires.
Asexual propagation by cuttings in Boring, Oreg., shows that the foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true to form and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations. The present invention has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with changes in environment without a change in the genotype of the plant.